USS Shaw under attack, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
The Japanese command called the early morning attack on Pearl Harbor, Operation Z. Its purpose was to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet and to protect Japan's advancement in to Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, where Japan sought the rich resources of rubber and oil.
The second wave of Japanese zeros about to take off for Pearl Harbor
Japan launched 353 planes in two waves from six aircraft carriers they had in the Pacific. After the smoke cleared the US had endured heavy losses in this surprise attack; 2,402 were killed, 1,282 wounded, 4 battleships were sunk or destroyed, 3 cruisers, and the list continues... President Roosevelt called this "a date which will live in infamy".
USS California being sunk, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
So the attack which had been meant to neutralize the US Pacific fleet ended up having a reverse effect. On December 8, 1941 the United States declared war on Japan and the rest is as they say - history.
Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Today
Visitors to Oahu today can take a tour of the memorial erected over the sunken USS Arizona. From the memorial over the sunken ship visitors can still see the oil which to this day still seeps up toward the surface, an eerie reminder of the 1,102 sailors for whom this steel hull below is their final resting place. A fitting memorial for these men and of all of those who died on this "a date in infamy".
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